Social and approachable while making the grades – “Get you a VPSS that can do both.”

What I’ll do for You:

Academics/Wellness: More seating spaces on campus that will be comfortable for long study sessions (and nap breaks!) Walker Wellness area – creating a lounge space above Hungry Badger for students. Asking students what they need to help improve their wellness

Events: Welcome back with fireworks, followed by Isaac’s after-party Friday during O-Week. Student requests for monthly events.

Athletics: Upping school pride; partnering with athletics to support both women and men’s teams at more events.

Overall, more students input regarding BUSU services.

Candidate Interview:

To the best of your understanding, what is the role and responsibilities of the Vice President of Student Services?

“I think the role of VPSS is in the name, student services. This person has to be doing everything they can in order for Brock life to be the best possible experience for students at every level. Yes, O-week is an amazing week that sets the tone for the rest of the year, but the responsibilities have to go beyond that and improve the day-to-day life of Badgers as well. As VPSS, I could bring my passion for school spirit and involvement to the job in order to encourage and help other students to feel the same pride as Brock students. This is done through making connections on campus with students and faculty, providing needs of students before wants and being that fun person at events that gets people excited about their decision to go to Brock. I would listen to the concerns of students, be there with them cheering on athletic teams as I already have been throughout my undergrad, support clubs and their events and most importantly – make Brock life less stressful and more fun in any way that I can.”

Why have you decided to run for the position of VPSS?

“I have decided to run for the position of VPSS for a lot of reasons, but I think it all draws back to one thing – student engagement. Through volunteering with BUSU on campus, going abroad with Brock through the Child and Youth studies department, being on the Smart Start team this summer and working for BUSU on the street team, as a blog writer and as a marketing coordinator I have become a not so low-key Brock enthusiast. I want to bring this same level of passion for Brock that I have had in other jobs, volunteer roles and in the community to the role of VPSS. I know that if I was given this opportunity I would work non-stop to help other students have the best university experience they can, just like I have. Whether it’s helping them find a club to become a member of, connect them with volunteering opportunities, cheering on our athletic teams with them or just being a smiling face in the halls, I would be honoured to have that opportunity, which led me to run for VPSS.”

If you needed to summarize your platform into three main issues at Brock that you believe need to be addressed, what would they be? How do you plan to address these issues?

“I would look at the three main responsibilities of VPSS and find issues within each. This would include clubs, events and engagement, all of which have issues which I don’t just want to help with, but would need to in order for it to be a successful year for Brock.

For clubs, the funding was a major issue this year, which wouldn’t be acceptable going forward with me as VPSS. BUSU is putting up a clubs fee referendum in March, meaning there is the possibility of more funding being available next year, which would be amazing. However, it also needs to be considered that it might not pass in which case the VPSS needs to have a solid plan to allocate funds effectively so money doesn’t run out in the first semester again, which I know I could do, and would make a priority.

For events, I will bring student requested events to campus so more people actually want to participate by holding designated open office hours and engaging in social media, where students can tell me what they want to see brought to Brock.

Finally, with engagement I want to bring more school spirit to Brock. A lot of students come to class and leave right after, but I want to provide ways for them to get involved to make their university life better. I want to have an online calendar where all events on campus, including everything from athletic events to club meetings are listed so that students can easily find out what’s going on. They can also take advantage of my open office hours to tell me their interests, and I’d be happy to personally direct them to clubs that would be of interest to them.”